1. After the great quote on p. 174, “Children do not have levels; books have levels.” the text goes on to speak about the importance of knowing independent reading levels in order to match children to just right books. “Levels are one tool that we as teachers use to help children work within their zone of proximal development (ZPD) and that children can use to quickly find books that they’ll be able to read.”
So what about you? Do you already have a systematic way of collecting data about your readers, including ways to keep track of reading levels across the year? If you answer “not yet”, what might be your next manageable step for this year? If you answered “yes”, then what might still be one hope for this year or revision you are considering in your data collection, tracking, or use regarding independent reading level growth?
My research this year will be broader. I will have the Star Test, Inventories, past records, discussion with past teachers and my own observations. I have spent time this summer understanding the concept of leveled readers. Fountas and Pinnell is on my list, I know it's in my building and I want to use it. The strategy menu on pg 182-5 gives me focus lessons lead my students to right fit reading material accordin to the stratigies I need to teach. I've got my work set out for me. I am a good teacher of the printed word, but the Tenets on pg. 196-97 are my instructional points. Margaret Fox
Chapter 7 from Bobbi Friend #1 – I do not yet have a management system developed for tracking data on my students, but I have a plan in place. I plan to have one classroom form for each class showing the essential data for each student, as well as an individual form for each student from each class. The classroom form is where I will record beginning data including Star Reader scores, DIBELS scores, MEAP scores, as well as current reading level. I will then have a form for each individual student that will show growth over the year including updated Star Reader scores, DIBELS scores, MEAP scores, and current reading levels. I still need to develop the final recording sheets, but I know that I need to use them to keep track of the data.
I too love the quote, "Children do not have levels; books have levels." So many teachers refer to their kids by what level they read almost as if they have a number tattooed on their forehead. There is so much more to it than the level alone. There is so much more to look at and assess than can be told in a number. I do have an OK system for collecting data over the course of the year. Unfortunately I am not a very computer savvy so a lot of my records are in the form of checklists, rubrics, and anecdotal records. The RtI coordinator in my building is assisting with record keeping and she will enter all of my assessment information onto a pivot table so that I can see where a child is in several areas all on one page. This is very helpful when planning strategy groups. My main goal this upcoming year is to improve my record keeping so I am tryint to develop a system where I will be able to have everything kept on my computer. --Jodee Tuttle
I don't have a very good management system in place for my first grade class. I also feel that I don't use enough assessments like some that were discussed in chapter 2. I use sight vocabulary, my weekly timed reads and DIBELS scores. Just like Jodee, I use checklists and notes. I also use small group time to listen to them read and work on ski. I do group my students but frequently change them around to how their scores change or how they comprehend what they are reading. I have based my groups mostly on skills and not strategies. My goals for this year is to use some of the suggestions for assessments, make read alouds a priority, work on developing a better record system, more strategies vs.skills and to have students use warm up and transfer groups. Ronda
My assessment system includes Dibels, Running Records, sight word lists, STAR reading, and Accelerated Reading. I can use this date to put my students in a quick group or a close guess for "just right books." We use these assessments 3 times a year, plus progress monitoring for At Risk students with the Dibels. We are moving into a new Dibels addition so it will be interesting to see what new components and strategies that will offer. I'm a dinosaur with low technology skills. I like checklists and rubrics (especialy those generated with student help), but I also have organizational challenges. I just left a grade level where I partnered with a wonderful teacher who helped me with my spreadsheets. lists, etc. I hope to find pre-made forms to get me started with my new adventure into reading workshop and small group instruction. I felt an immediate kinship with the statement"Isn't this already written down somewhere?" p.179, not just in regards to leveling books, but in everything we do. It seems we spend too much time inventing forms, or strategies, or lists, when that work has been done, and done well, by someone else. I would love to get to the point in my career where I'm the person making those innovations, but right now I just want to borrow them. My goal this year is to focus on learning what my readers need and matching them to a strategy to help them get there, while finding a method to storehouse accountable evidence of the steps we took. Mike
As the building principal, I feel strongly that we have a school wide system for finding our student's ZPD's...we use STAR, Dibels, Running Records, Lexia, Read Naturally and Accelerated Reader. We have a Literacy Coach to collect data from teachers and add all of our data into our data base. We can use this data to make highly informed decisions for programming, book purchases, interventions, child study candidates, extended day learning needs, etc. I love that my teachers are data smart and data driven. It is so much more effective to know where are students are and to be purposeful about book choices than to just let them grab any old book and read. When kids are reading in their ZPD regularly...growth happens!
Carol Dawson
Like I have mentioned before, our district uses Aimsweb Early Literacy skills and fluency assessments, Spelling Inventory, Concepts of Print, and Scholastic Reading Inventory to collect data about our readers. I have all of this information about the Title I students, plus some additional anecdotal information from classroom teachers. I use their formal running records to keep track of my students' movement through the levels, and I do my own running records from the F&P benchmarking kit for some of my students. What I would like to keep more data on this year is evidence of application of skills within a level before I consider moving them up to the next level. This could take some tricky coordination with the classroom teacher. Since I want to see a child apply a skill several times in different texts before considering it a mastered skill, I think getting together with the classroom teacher to compare notes might be the best way to collect this data. We could both have a checklist of the skills for each level for each student. When we witnessed the student applying that skill, we could put the date next to it. Depending on the grade, we would meet every so often and compare what we've noticed and decide together if the child is ready to move to the next level. I think I'll have to learn by trial and error, but I think it might give me some powerful information about my students! ~Stephanie Benedict
I was so happy to read that on P174. I always discuss with my students the range of level that they could chose from. One there interests varied, their abilities varied and this gave them the ability to be flexible in their just right areas. Sometimes students felt like stretching. Sometimes students felt like comfort in a familiar some what easier book. This flexibility seemed to work with my group. The progress I should last year was on the average 125-150% improvement using DIBELS 6th ed as the measuring assessment tool. KDN
2. This book is filled with such real examples of the power of conversations and relationships with students, and the exquisite work that naturally comes out of those conversations, don’t you agree? One example of this for me is the simple yet profound idea of the “assessment-only” conference found on page 188. “An assessment-only conference is a short, approximately ten-minute opportunity to meet with a student and ask questions from the strategy menu. In doing so, I can ascertain how the student handles text difficulties. By determining areas of strength and need… I can more easily identify next steps for the reader.” Yes! Why not? It makes sense to use the strategy menu we would create for each level to engage in a level-general assessment conversation whenever needed. In the margin next to this description I wrote, “So SIMPLE!”
Did the simple wisdom of this chapter stand out in any specific way to you? Whether regarding a text gradient in general, or regarding specific groupings described, where did this text make you exclaim out loud, write in the margin, or make you think deeper?
Chapter 7 from Bobbi Friend #2 – The piece of information that stood out most for me from this chapter is the section about getting to know leveled books. Once we have an idea of the levels where are students are currently reading, we need to be paying attention to the skills they will need in order to move into higher levels. If we have no idea what they will need to know and be capable of doing as they move up into a new level, than we will not be able to adequately prepare them for the challenges that will lie ahead. When I begin to think about being familiar with specific levels, I wonder if there are guides to be able to see what the skills are. Jen cautions that although there are guides, “it is essential to actually do our own reading of children’s literature and analysis of what strikes us as difficult. The guides can be used as a reference. In doing so, we develop a felt sense for the level, and this helps more than any discrete list of text difficulties you can find in a book.” This makes sense to me but I know that I will have such a huge variety of reading levels in my classroom that I will need to use a guide as well.
What stood out to me in this chapter was "getting to know leveled books." What I exclaimed out loud was "where do we find the time for all of this?" I know it requires a "time commitment and dedication." We have the dedication but the time commitment can be a problem. I also asked "Isn't leveling already done somewhere?" But it says in this chapter that it is "essential to actually do our own reading of children's literature and analysis of what strikes us as difficult." I guess this will be a process that I need to fit in when I can and in the mean time fall back to the aready leveled books from our library. I know I will need to follow the procedures for determining text levels and keep plugging away. Ronda
Time! Leveling books on my own, a new curriculum, a new grade level, and school just around the corner! My greatest comfort is seeing the repeated structure: connect and compliment, teach, engage, link. I can work on that right away, and make it part of my Reading/Classroom structures. I have enough experience to know I don't have the time or energy at this part of the year to immerse myself into leveling books. I have my classroom library leveled with the AR book levels. I will go with that and look at expanding my leveling expertise at a later, more sane time. I agree, guides are what I need right now! The most meaningful part of this chapter for me was looking at how to help students transition to the next higher level, starting with books they select themselves. That seems to really be the key to engagement, giving them that choice. The link with a self made bookmark that reinforced the strategies for the readers and held them accountable:" Take a moment before you go back to your seats to jot some of the things you practiced with me today on a book mark that you'll keep in your books as a reminder." "This helped to hold them accountable and was a support to them as they continued independently back at their seat."p.192 was another point that stuck out to me. Anything I can do that reinforces what we have taught and holds my students and myself accountable is worth my time and efforts. Mike
I really enjoyed this chapter...lots of great information and insight. I had several "aha" moments but one that I really like was the section about Text-Level Introduction Groups. On pages 190 and 191 the author walks us through the "teach" part of her lesson and it makes so much sense to me! You are meeting with a group of kids to move them to a new level AND you are going to do a lesson with them to point out some things that might be different or confusing in their new book level. Hello! This is such a great idea! Kids are excited to move onto a new level...new books...pride...new topics to explore...what a perfect idea to teach them while they are excited about new strategies they might need to head of their possible frustrations before they cause them any problems. In 13 years of teaching, I never, ever talked to a reader about a hyphenated word...shame on me! I love the way this book breaks down reading and minilessons to really reach our students! Carol Dawson
3. Analyze your own understanding of text levels. Do the skills or text difficulties of these levels need more focus from you in order to utilize this information to guide your teaching? What are your next steps? Could you envision working with a colleague or a group of colleagues toward greater understanding of a text gradient to enhance your work with your independent readers?
We have time each week to meet in teams about moving our children toward independent readers. I have a plan. The Tenets on page 196-97 will be part of these sessions. I want my colleagues to develop an understanding of leading "all" of our students to independency that is structured. We do lack experience when choosing material that fits. We all use Lucy writing it is time to "transfer" our thinking. Margaret Fox
I like the thought from this section on page 189, "The beauty of this kind of small group as an alternative to guided reading is that we give students support with the next level while still allowing choice of book, and the support that is given is strategic in nature, not based on the specific vocabulary or plot of a specific book. Giving strategic support will likely help the child transfer this learning from book to book, because strategies generalize to other texts." This said so much to me. I feel that the expectation for me is to do guided reading groups where the skills introduced are driven by a specific book and what Jen talks about makes so much more sense. I cannot possibly teach every book out there to my readers but I can teach the strategies needed which will allow a reader to read every book out there and advance to the next level because the strategies taught will carry over to the next level of text. --Jodee Tuttle
I really have to look closely at F and P Continuum for Literacy Learning which is a resource with LLI that gives descriptions of each level. I feel like I have a great understanding of the text features at each level, but I'd like to deepen my understanding of the skills the reader needs to be successful in each level. I think this familiarity will help me guide the reader through the levels faster and not leave any holes in their learning. I'd like to use the chart on p. 182-183 as well as F and P Continuum for Literacy Learning to develop more charts about each level. Jen's book about conferring had a similar chart for level L. I can't believe this isn't already created! However, I do see Jen's point on p. 179 that " it is essential to actually do our own reading of children's literature and analysis of what strikes us as difficult...we develop a felt sense for the level... considering the potential challenges allows you to plan your instruction fo a chlid." Lots of work ahead! ~ Stephanie Benedict
I like the idea of the assessment only conferences. They are short and to the point. The strategy menu helps. Then I would take the info and go back to the Fountas & Pinnell Continuum Book and examine the Levels. Look at the student’s current level, assessment only conference information and then look at the next level—identify the hole and proceed to fill. Fill during conferences, ghost time during book clubs and guided/strategy reading groups—all time to individually or in a small way fill the gap and move the student on in his/her reading life. KDN
In addition to the questions and thoughts above, here is a place to post other ideas and burning questions from chapter seven, if any...
What is the best resource for Leveled Strategy Menus? I don't care if it is considered "cheating" I'm willing to use it as a place to start :>)
Mike
1. After the great quote on p. 174, “Children do not have levels; books have levels.” the text goes on to speak about the importance of knowing independent reading levels in order to match children to just right books. “Levels are one tool that we as teachers use to help children work within their zone of proximal development (ZPD) and that children can use to quickly find books that they’ll be able to read.”
So what about you? Do you already have a systematic way of collecting data about your readers, including ways to keep track of reading levels across the year? If you answer “not yet”, what might be your next manageable step for this year? If you answered “yes”, then what might still be one hope for this year or revision you are considering in your data collection, tracking, or use regarding independent reading level growth?
My research this year will be broader. I will have the Star Test, Inventories, past records, discussion with past teachers and my own observations. I have spent time this summer understanding the concept of leveled readers. Fountas and Pinnell is on my list, I know it's in my building and I want to use it. The strategy menu on pg 182-5 gives me focus lessons lead my students to right fit reading material accordin to the stratigies I need to teach. I've got my work set out for me. I am a good teacher of the printed word, but the Tenets on pg. 196-97are my instructional points.
Margaret Fox
Chapter 7 from Bobbi Friend #1 – I do not yet have a management system developed for tracking data on my students, but I have a plan in place. I plan to have one classroom form for each class showing the essential data for each student, as well as an individual form for each student from each class. The classroom form is where I will record beginning data including Star Reader scores, DIBELS scores, MEAP scores, as well as current reading level. I will then have a form for each individual student that will show growth over the year including updated Star Reader scores, DIBELS scores, MEAP scores, and current reading levels. I still need to develop the final recording sheets, but I know that I need to use them to keep track of the data.I too love the quote, "Children do not have levels; books have levels." So many teachers refer to their kids by what level they read almost as if they have a number tattooed on their forehead. There is so much more to it than the level alone. There is so much more to look at and assess than can be told in a number. I do have an OK system for collecting data over the course of the year. Unfortunately I am not a very computer savvy so a lot of my records are in the form of checklists, rubrics, and anecdotal records. The RtI coordinator in my building is assisting with record keeping and she will enter all of my assessment information onto a pivot table so that I can see where a child is in several areas all on one page. This is very helpful when planning strategy groups. My main goal this upcoming year is to improve my record keeping so I am tryint to develop a system where I will be able to have everything kept on my computer. --Jodee Tuttle
I don't have a very good management system in place for my first grade class. I also feel that I don't use enough assessments like some that were discussed in chapter 2. I use sight vocabulary, my weekly timed reads and DIBELS scores. Just like Jodee, I use checklists and notes. I also use small group time to listen to them read and work on ski. I do group my students but frequently change them around to how their scores change or how they comprehend what they are reading. I have based my groups mostly on skills and not strategies. My goals for this year is to use some of the suggestions for assessments, make read alouds a priority, work on developing a better record system, more strategies vs.skills and to have students use warm up and transfer groups. Ronda
My assessment system includes Dibels, Running Records, sight word lists, STAR reading, and Accelerated Reading. I can use this date to put my students in a quick group or a close guess for "just right books." We use these assessments 3 times a year, plus progress monitoring for At Risk students with the Dibels. We are moving into a new Dibels addition so it will be interesting to see what new components and strategies that will offer. I'm a dinosaur with low technology skills. I like checklists and rubrics (especialy those generated with student help), but I also have organizational challenges. I just left a grade level where I partnered with a wonderful teacher who helped me with my spreadsheets. lists, etc. I hope to find pre-made forms to get me started with my new adventure into reading workshop and small group instruction. I felt an immediate kinship with the statement"Isn't this already written down somewhere?" p.179, not just in regards to leveling books, but in everything we do. It seems we spend too much time inventing forms, or strategies, or lists, when that work has been done, and done well, by someone else. I would love to get to the point in my career where I'm the person making those innovations, but right now I just want to borrow them. My goal this year is to focus on learning what my readers need and matching them to a strategy to help them get there, while finding a method to storehouse accountable evidence of the steps we took.
Mike
As the building principal, I feel strongly that we have a school wide system for finding our student's ZPD's...we use STAR, Dibels, Running Records, Lexia, Read Naturally and Accelerated Reader. We have a Literacy Coach to collect data from teachers and add all of our data into our data base. We can use this data to make highly informed decisions for programming, book purchases, interventions, child study candidates, extended day learning needs, etc. I love that my teachers are data smart and data driven. It is so much more effective to know where are students are and to be purposeful about book choices than to just let them grab any old book and read. When kids are reading in their ZPD regularly...growth happens!
Carol Dawson
Like I have mentioned before, our district uses Aimsweb Early Literacy skills and fluency assessments, Spelling Inventory, Concepts of Print, and Scholastic Reading Inventory to collect data about our readers. I have all of this information about the Title I students, plus some additional anecdotal information from classroom teachers. I use their formal running records to keep track of my students' movement through the levels, and I do my own running records from the F&P benchmarking kit for some of my students. What I would like to keep more data on this year is evidence of application of skills within a level before I consider moving them up to the next level. This could take some tricky coordination with the classroom teacher. Since I want to see a child apply a skill several times in different texts before considering it a mastered skill, I think getting together with the classroom teacher to compare notes might be the best way to collect this data. We could both have a checklist of the skills for each level for each student. When we witnessed the student applying that skill, we could put the date next to it. Depending on the grade, we would meet every so often and compare what we've noticed and decide together if the child is ready to move to the next level. I think I'll have to learn by trial and error, but I think it might give me some powerful information about my students! ~Stephanie Benedict
I was so happy to read that on P174. I always discuss with my students the range of level that they could chose from. One there interests varied, their abilities varied and this gave them the ability to be flexible in their just right areas. Sometimes students felt like stretching. Sometimes students felt like comfort in a familiar some what easier book. This flexibility seemed to work with my group. The progress I should last year was on the average 125-150% improvement using DIBELS 6th ed as the measuring assessment tool. KDN
2. This book is filled with such real examples of the power of conversations and relationships with students, and the exquisite work that naturally comes out of those conversations, don’t you agree? One example of this for me is the simple yet profound idea of the “assessment-only” conference found on page 188. “An assessment-only conference is a short, approximately ten-minute opportunity to meet with a student and ask questions from the strategy menu. In doing so, I can ascertain how the student handles text difficulties. By determining areas of strength and need… I can more easily identify next steps for the reader.” Yes! Why not? It makes sense to use the strategy menu we would create for each level to engage in a level-general assessment conversation whenever needed. In the margin next to this description I wrote, “So SIMPLE!”
Did the simple wisdom of this chapter stand out in any specific way to you? Whether regarding a text gradient in general, or regarding specific groupings described, where did this text make you exclaim out loud, write in the margin, or make you think deeper?
Chapter 7 from Bobbi Friend #2 – The piece of information that stood out most for me from this chapter is the section about getting to know leveled books. Once we have an idea of the levels where are students are currently reading, we need to be paying attention to the skills they will need in order to move into higher levels. If we have no idea what they will need to know and be capable of doing as they move up into a new level, than we will not be able to adequately prepare them for the challenges that will lie ahead. When I begin to think about being familiar with specific levels, I wonder if there are guides to be able to see what the skills are. Jen cautions that although there are guides, “it is essential to actually do our own reading of children’s literature and analysis of what strikes us as difficult. The guides can be used as a reference. In doing so, we develop a felt sense for the level, and this helps more than any discrete list of text difficulties you can find in a book.” This makes sense to me but I know that I will have such a huge variety of reading levels in my classroom that I will need to use a guide as well.What stood out to me in this chapter was "getting to know leveled books." What I exclaimed out loud was "where do we find the time for all of this?" I know it requires a "time commitment and dedication." We have the dedication but the time commitment can be a problem. I also asked "Isn't leveling already done somewhere?" But it says in this chapter that it is "essential to actually do our own reading of children's literature and analysis of what strikes us as difficult." I guess this will be a process that I need to fit in when I can and in the mean time fall back to the aready leveled books from our library. I know I will need to follow the procedures for determining text levels and keep plugging away. Ronda
Time! Leveling books on my own, a new curriculum, a new grade level, and school just around the corner! My greatest comfort is seeing the repeated structure: connect and compliment, teach, engage, link. I can work on that right away, and make it part of my Reading/Classroom structures. I have enough experience to know I don't have the time or energy at this part of the year to immerse myself into leveling books. I have my classroom library leveled with the AR book levels. I will go with that and look at expanding my leveling expertise at a later, more sane time. I agree, guides are what I need right now! The most meaningful part of this chapter for me was looking at how to help students transition to the next higher level, starting with books they select themselves. That seems to really be the key to engagement, giving them that choice. The link with a self made bookmark that reinforced the strategies for the readers and held them accountable:" Take a moment before you go back to your seats to jot some of the things you practiced with me today on a book mark that you'll keep in your books as a reminder." "This helped to hold them accountable and was a support to them as they continued independently back at their seat."p.192 was another point that stuck out to me. Anything I can do that reinforces what we have taught and holds my students and myself accountable is worth my time and efforts.Mike
I really enjoyed this chapter...lots of great information and insight. I had several "aha" moments but one that I really like was the section about Text-Level Introduction Groups. On pages 190 and 191 the author walks us through the "teach" part of her lesson and it makes so much sense to me! You are meeting with a group of kids to move them to a new level AND you are going to do a lesson with them to point out some things that might be different or confusing in their new book level. Hello! This is such a great idea! Kids are excited to move onto a new level...new books...pride...new topics to explore...what a perfect idea to teach them while they are excited about new strategies they might need to head of their possible frustrations before they cause them any problems. In 13 years of teaching, I never, ever talked to a reader about a hyphenated word...shame on me! I love the way this book breaks down reading and minilessons to really reach our students! Carol Dawson
3. Analyze your own understanding of text levels. Do the skills or text difficulties of these levels need more focus from you in order to utilize this information to guide your teaching? What are your next steps? Could you envision working with a colleague or a group of colleagues toward greater understanding of a text gradient to enhance your work with your independent readers?
We have time each week to meet in teams about moving our children toward independent readers. I have a plan. The Tenets on page 196-97 will be part of these sessions. I want my colleagues to develop an understanding of leading "all" of our students to independency that is structured. We do lack experience when choosing material that fits. We all use Lucy writing it is time to "transfer" our thinking.Margaret Fox
I like the thought from this section on page 189, "The beauty of this kind of small group as an alternative to guided reading is that we give students support with the next level while still allowing choice of book, and the support that is given is strategic in nature, not based on the specific vocabulary or plot of a specific book. Giving strategic support will likely help the child transfer this learning from book to book, because strategies generalize to other texts." This said so much to me. I feel that the expectation for me is to do guided reading groups where the skills introduced are driven by a specific book and what Jen talks about makes so much more sense. I cannot possibly teach every book out there to my readers but I can teach the strategies needed which will allow a reader to read every book out there and advance to the next level because the strategies taught will carry over to the next level of text. --Jodee Tuttle
I really have to look closely at F and P Continuum for Literacy Learning which is a resource with LLI that gives descriptions of each level. I feel like I have a great understanding of the text features at each level, but I'd like to deepen my understanding of the skills the reader needs to be successful in each level. I think this familiarity will help me guide the reader through the levels faster and not leave any holes in their learning. I'd like to use the chart on p. 182-183 as well as F and P Continuum for Literacy Learning to develop more charts about each level. Jen's book about conferring had a similar chart for level L. I can't believe this isn't already created! However, I do see Jen's point on p. 179 that " it is essential to actually do our own reading of children's literature and analysis of what strikes us as difficult...we develop a felt sense for the level... considering the potential challenges allows you to plan your instruction fo a chlid." Lots of work ahead! ~ Stephanie Benedict
I like the idea of the assessment only conferences. They are short and to the point. The strategy menu helps. Then I would take the info and go back to the Fountas & Pinnell Continuum Book and examine the Levels. Look at the student’s current level, assessment only conference information and then look at the next level—identify the hole and proceed to fill. Fill during conferences, ghost time during book clubs and guided/strategy reading groups—all time to individually or in a small way fill the gap and move the student on in his/her reading life. KDN
In addition to the questions and thoughts above, here is a place to post other ideas and burning questions from chapter seven, if any...
What is the best resource for Leveled Strategy Menus? I don't care if it is considered "cheating" I'm willing to use it as a place to start :>)Mike